assumptions

Negative predictions about the future, however confidently we may state them, are nothing more than projections based on fallible understandings and limited information.

Consequently, you can’t know if an idea is going to fail unless you try it.

You may consider a certain creative undertaking to be difficult or impossible, but the existence of difficulty and impossibility can only be verified by those who take action.

Before you try, you have an assumption. After you try, you have knowledge.

But many of us abandon our dreams and desires, without persistently taking action, because of our overconfidence in untested negative assumptions.

We live under the false impression that the Universe is a place that likes to say “no” to our well-being.

This, however, is not the case.

Well-being is ours to lose, because the only “no” we ever receive is the one we give to ourselves.

This doesn’t mean that life will always unfold in the exact way we envision it. However, when we follow our creative ideas, they will either work or they will guide us down a path leading to something that does work. This is an almost miraculous phenomenon that some people don’t experience simply because they talk themselves out of trying.

What appears to be an obstacle to the person who only THINKS about his dream, is experienced as a surprising stepping stone towards success by the one who ACTS on his dream.

Many winning ideas are actually discovered in the unexpected places we find ourselves in when we venture out in pursuit of what turns out to be a losing idea.

Successful people don’t rebound from failure, they build on failure.

They act on the information they have and, whether their plans “work” or not, they use the results they receive as feedback to be used in the creation of new and improved ideas. Then, they keep moving along the creative path until they eventually manifest their original idea or something better.

You may feel convinced that you wont get the things you desire, but all you have is speculation until you make a move.

You may feel certain that the Cosmos will dismiss your request for an amazing life, but it’s only a hypothesis until you test it by setting forth a specific intention.

Don’t stake your life and legacy on negative ASSUMPTIONS about what MIGHT happen.

The next time you get ready to form a pessimistic conclusion about anyone or anything, just ask yourself the following 2 questions;

1) How do I know beyond a reasonable doubt that this negative conclusion is true?

2) Am I using the same standard of scrutiny and skepticism that I would use if someone were asking me to draw a positive conclusion about this situation?

Negative until proven positive?

When someone tries to put a positive spin on a situation, we usually become very rational and demand evidence of the highest kind. But when disempowering ideas are advanced, we tend to take those thinking caps right off like a jury that’s been paid under the table. It’s as if someone tricked us into making negativity the default position.

“If you can’t prove with mountains of scientific data that there’s something positive about this situation, I get to adopt the most depressing interpretation possible without having to answer any of the same tough questions about my pessimistic view. Then, on top of that, I get to call myself a “realist” and me and my buddies can make fun of you for being really stupid and naive. Okay?”

What? How did we get there?

A negative assumption is still an assumption

A buddy of mine recently asked me “do you try to make everything positive?” I replied “Not at all! I just refuse to give negativity a free pass. There’s no need to turn a negative situation into a positive one if you don’t assume that it’s negative to begin with.”

If being positive is difficult for you, I get it. If you’re at a place in your life where you don’t know what to think or do, why force yourself to smile if it feels fake? Fortunately, you have more options than being either negative or positive. Instead of assuming that things will turn out horribly, when you really don’t know what’s going to happen for sure, you can simply choose to be open to possibility.

Instead of being negative, be neutral. If you can’t be positive, be open to possibility. You’ll be surprised by how far that takes you.